Criminal Law – Section A
Professor David Kwok
Spring 2016
Email: dkwok@uh.edu
Office: 118 TU II
Assistant: Amanda Parker
Overview
The criminal law offers the strongest sanctions available in the U.S. legal system, and this course uses
the backdrop of violent crime to introduce students to the statutory interpretation and legal argument
surrounding such sanctions. We will cover offenses such as homicide and rape, along with defenses such
as insanity and self-defense. We will explore how statutory interpretation ties into the underlying (and
often conflicting) goals and purposes of the criminal law.
Class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 10:20am.
Textbooks
Joshua Dressler, Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (6th ed.)
Paul Robinson, Criminal Law Case Studies (4th ed.)
Attendance Policy
You should attend class sessions and arrive on time. If you arrive late, out of respect for the other
students and the class environment, please try to minimize the disturbance. The Law Center attendance
policy requires attendance of 80% of all scheduled (or makeup) classes or a student risks being dropped
from the class.
I will take attendance by distributing a roll sheet at the beginning of each class. Each student should
personally initial by his or her name for that class session. It is your responsibility to ensure that you
have initialed the roll sheet before you leave the classroom each day. Students who do not sign the role
sheet are deemed to have been absent. You may not sign the role sheet if you miss more than 15
minutes of class.
Please note that you are responsible for managing your absences from class and ensuring that your total
number of absences does not exceed the threshold for the class. Even if you have notified me that you
will be absent, that absence still uses one of your available absences. An absence is an absence,
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regardless of the reason, except for absences covered by the University and Law Center religious holiday
policy.
Students who exceed five (5) absences will be reported to the Associate Dean. In addition, if a student
exceeds the threshold by one absence, the student will take a grade reduction of 1/3 of a letter grade.
Each additional absence will result in an additional report to the Associate Dean and an additional 1/3 of
a letter grade drop.
Participation
I will call on students both to discuss cases and to comment on the issues we are discussing.
Participation in the class discussion helps all of us in the learning process. Professional conduct is
expected during class. Such professionalism includes respect for your fellow students in timeliness,
preparation, and addressing different points of view. As we are all in the process of learning, the
classroom discussion involves some risk-taking in considering new ideas and different arguments. Such
possibilities can be combined with respect for the rest of the class.
If you are not prepared for a particular class, be sure to email me at least 10 minutes before the start of
class, and I will refrain from calling on you. You may pass twice without any negative effect to your final
grade. If you are unprepared for class when I call on you, you will be marked absent for the day.
Students with poor class participation will have their final grade dropped by 1/3 of a letter grade. The
decision to drop a grade for participation is at my discretion and is non-negotiable. A drop for class
participation can result from a combination of unpreparedness, not paying attention in class, and
absences (even if you are within the six-absence limit).
In exceptional circumstances, a student may go up a 1/3 of a letter grade for making a substantial
contribution to the class. Note that volunteering every class does not constitute a substantial
contribution—quality, not quantity matters.
Grading
Besides the aforementioned attendance and participation policies, your final grade will be determined
by your performance on a final examination scheduled for May 3 from 9am-noon.
Office Hours: Mondays, 1-2:30pm, or you may contact me via email to schedule an appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Sarah Lozano. She can be reached via email at sjlozano@Central.UH.EDU
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Initial Assignment Schedule
Part I: Overview and General Principles
Jan 19
Introduction
Read: Dressler 1-28
Jan 21
Theories of Punishment
Read: Dressler 29-48; 51-69. Robinson 21-27
Jan 26
Proportionality of Punishment
Read: Dressler 69-91. Robinson 35-40
Jan 28
Actus Reus
Read: Dressler 127-47. Robinson 62-71
Feb 2
Mens Rea
Read: Dressler 147-59
Feb 4
The Model Penal Code Approach
Read: Dressler 159-74
Feb 9
Strict Liability Offenses
Read: Dressler 175-92
Feb 11
Mistake & Mens Rea
Read: Dressler 193-97. Robinson 41-61
Feb 16
Causation
Read: Dressler 213-32. Robinson 73-77
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Part II: Substantive Offenses
Feb 18
Criminal Homicide: Intentional Killings
Read: Dressler 235-38; 254-65
Feb 23
Intentional Killings, cont’d: Manslaughter
Read: Dressler 265-76; 284-91
Feb 25
Unintentional Killings
Read: Dressler 294-307. Robinson 8-14
Mar 1
Felony Murder Rule
Read: Dressler 308-37. Robinson 1-7
Mar 3
Rape
Read: Dressler 379-89; 397-419
Mar 8
Rape, cont’d
Read: Dressler 419-52
A second assignment schedule will be distributed. We will cover Defenses, Excuses, Inchoate
Offenses, Theft, and other topics as time permits.
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